30 Days Hath September 2016 | Day 22 | Because This Is What Love Comes To by Todd Davis

September 22, 2016

Because This Is What Love Comes To

I brush away snow to watch the pulse of water

beneath ice, the river’s heart that throbs on and on

despite winter’s cold. After more than an hour cutting

new trail, I can feel my pulse along the left temple

and give thanks for its continuous beating. We’re allowed

to name the stars more than once. Look at the naked sky

in January. The light we’re blind to at midday traveling

toward us until it’s broken by alder cones and becomes nothing

more than shadow. My heart sits impatiently in the basket

of my ribs while my skis make a lonely sound. As night

comes down, I’m reminded that not long ago

the pierced dark showed ships at sea a way home.

– Todd Davis

Todd Davis is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Winterkill and In the Kingdom of the Ditch, both published by Michigan State University Press. He is a fellow in the Black Earth Institute and a professor of environmental studies and creative writing at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona College.